Making his way to the mound for the 2022 Meet the Gators series this week is transfer right-handed pitcher Hurston Waldrep of Thomasville, Ga. On the heels of two dominant years at Southern Miss that saw him collect All-America honors last season, Waldrep will don No. 12 as a member of the Orange & Blue.
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The hard-throwing righty has already turned heads during his limited time in Gainesville, as he did not allow a run across four impressive frames this past fall. In his unofficial Gators debut vs. Georgia on Oct. 28, he fired two shutout innings to earn the win. On Nov. 6 against Stetson, Waldrep tossed two perfect frames – striking out all six batters he faced including an immaculate inning to cap off the outing.
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Just last week, Waldrep was ranked by D1Baseball as the
No. 14 college prospect for the 2023 MLB Draft. The only Gator to receive a higher ranking than Waldrep was returning First Team All-American outfielder
Wyatt Langford.
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Looking back to his Southern Miss tenure, Waldrep established himself as one of the most overpowering hurlers in the country. En route to being named a Third Team All-American by D1Baseball, he went 6-2 with a 3.20 ERA, .213 BAA and 140 strikeouts in 90 frames last season, translating to 14.0 strikeouts per nine innings. The strong campaign was accompanied by two complete games and one shutout.
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Waldrep polished off his Golden Eagles career by helping to power the squad to a Super Regional berth last season, where Southern Miss ultimately fell to eventual-NCAA Champion Ole Miss. By the time it was all said and done, Waldrep concluded his time in Hattiesburg with a 7-2 record, 3.22 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 28 appearances spanning 106 1/3 frames.
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Prior to his college years, Waldrep starred as two-sport athlete at Thomasville High School. As a four-time letterwinner in baseball under Head Coach Greg Crager, he won three-straight Region 1-AA titles from 2017-19, with the Bulldogs making a run to the state quarterfinals in the former two years.
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In the summer of 2019, Waldrep represented Team Georgia in the prestigious Junior Sunbelt Classic. That capped a lengthy list of prep accolades for the right-hander, including Class AA All-State, Region 1-AA Pitcher of the Year and Region 1-AA First Team honors.
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Entering college, Waldrep was ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 14 right-handed pitcher and No. 44 overall player in Georgia, on top of being tabbed as a top-500 recruit nationally.
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As the son of Cliff and Debbie Waldrep, Hurston has one older brother, Ryan, and two younger sisters, Morgan and Edon Grace. He is majoring in education sciences at the University of Florida.
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